Noticeboard

CORONAVIRUS

All consultations will at first be carried out by telephone by one of our GPs or Nurse practitioners.  This is to ensure we are keeping both our patients and staff safe.  If once you have spoke to a GP or Nurse Practitioner they need to see you for a face to face consultation, they will give you a time to attend the practice.  Due to the fact we have quite a small reception area we need to ensure we have enough space between patients to follow the government social distancing advice. This is also the reason our front door is currently locked.   We are required to comply with the social distancing guidelines which means after measuring the appropriate distance between the seats we can get 6 people in the waiting room downstairs and 4 upstairs.   We are testing the temperature of all staff and patients when they arrive at the practice and we are asking all patients attending to wear a face covering.  Our phone lines are exceptionally busy and we ask that if you have access to the internet you please complete an eConsult.  This comes directly to us and we will contact you within 48hrs.  Any eConsults left for us between 4pm on Friday and 8am on Monday will be dealt with on Monday.  

We have extra staff where possible answering the phones and are doing our best to answer them as quickly as possible.  

We thank all our patients for their continued support in this unprecedented time. 

HANDS  --  FACE  --  SPACE 


The advice for everyone is to follow this guidance.

  1. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are recent onset of a new continuous cough or a high temperature or a loss of, or change in, normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia).

  2. If you develop these symptoms, however mild, or you have received a positive coronavirus (COVID-19) test result, then you should immediately self-isolate stay at home for at least 10 days from when your symptoms started. If you live with others, all other household members who remain well must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. See the stay at home guidance for further information.

  3. You do not need to call NHS 111 to go into self-isolation. If you feel you cannot cope with your symptoms at home, or your condition gets worse, or your symptoms do not get better after 10 days, then use the NHS 111 online service. If you have do not have internet access, you should call NHS 111. For a medical emergency dial 999

  4. If you have any symptoms of COVID-19, you should arrange a test by visiting NHS.UK, or contact 119 via telephone if you do not have internet access.

  5. Wash your hands more often than usual, for 20 seconds using soap and water or hand sanitiser, particularly after coughing, sneezing and blowing your nose, before you eat or handle food, or when you get to work or arrive home

  6. Cover your mouth and nose with disposable tissues when you cough or sneeze. If you do not have a tissue, sneeze into the crook of your elbow, not into your hand. Dispose of tissues into a disposable rubbish bag and immediately wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds or use hand sanitiser.

  7. You must wear a face covering by law in some public places unless you have a face covering exemption because of your age, health or another condition. You are also strongly encouraged to wear a face covering in other enclosed public spaces where social distancing may be difficult and where you come into contact with people you do not normally meet. Social distancing, hand washing and covering coughs and sneezes, remain the most important measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Face coverings do not replace these. See the staying safe outside your home guidance, and you can find guidance on how to wear and make a cloth face covering.

  8. Clean and disinfect regularly touched objects and surfaces using your regular cleaning products to reduce the risk of passing the infection on to other people.

At the current time and based on our understanding of what is known so far, COVID-19 can make anyone seriously ill, but for some people the risk is higher. You can find more information on higher risk groups on NHS.UK. As more information emerges, recommendations may change.

COVID-19 updates and information in British Sign Language can be accessed on SignHealth’s website.


As before, you must still:

  • stay at least two metres (three steps) away from anyone you don't live with/outside of your support bubble when outside your home
  • wash your hands with soap and water often, for at least 20 seconds
  • use hand sanitizer gel if soap and water are unavailable
  • wash your hands as soon as you get home
  • cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands!) when you cough or sneeze
  • put used tissues in the bins immediately and wash your hands afterwards 
  • wear a something that covers your nose and mouth when it's hard to keep away from people, such as in the shops or on public transport

DO NOT GO TO YOUR GP SURGERY, HOSPITAL OR PHARMACY IF YOU HAVE SYMPTOMS OF CORONAVIRUS.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE SEE OUR PAGE ON CORONAVIRUS GUIDANCE

Latest News

COVID-19 Vaccination Programme

The vaccination will be administered at a central location for all practices - not by your GP surgery.

As has been very well publicised, the COVID-19 vaccinations programme well underway. Vaccinations take place at the Brentwood Centre.

The priority list received from the Department of Health and Social Care is as follows:

1.) residents in a care home for older adults and their carers

2.) all those 80 years of age and frontline health and social care workers

3.) all those 75 years of age and over

4.) all those 70 years of age and over and clinically vulnerable individuals

5.) all those 65 years of age and over

6.) all individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality

7.) all those 60 years of age and over

8.) all those 55 years of age and over

9.) all those 50 years of age and over

It is estimated that taken together, these groups represent around 99% of preventable mortality from COVID-19.

As has already been well publicised, please rest assured GP practices will contact patients based on availability of vaccine and age group/health condition.

END OF TELEPHONE PRESCRIPTION REQUESTS (unless housebound)

As of 11th November we are no longer taking prescription requests by telephone (with the exception of housebound patients).

We temporarily allowed this during the lockdown, but feel it is time to revert to normal practice; demand is too great and telephone enquiries take up a lot of time.

You can still order online, put your repeat slip through our letterbox, or arrange for your a pharmacy to request on your behalf.

Thank you for your co-operation.

A notice about viewing upcoming telephone appointments online

We have been made aware that upcoming telephone appointments are visible on SystmOnline on the Future Appointments page, causing the understandable expectation that the GP will call at the time shown.

Please ignore the time displayed on SystmOnline for your telephone appointment. The GP will call you that day, prioritising urgent calls first, but not at the specified time.

We have looked into making telephone appointments invisible online, but this isn't possible.

Thank you for your understanding.

Welcome Dr. Gvazvaza


Several of you will have become familiar with Dr. Gvazvaza  over the past year as she working with us on a temporary basis. We are thrilled to welcome her to a permanent position within the practice.  

Download the NHS App


The NHS App is owned and run by the NHS. It is a simple and secure way to access a range of NHS services from your smartphone or tablet.

Available on iOS and Android - download it from the App Store or Google Play.

The NHS App can be used for:

  • get advice about coronavirus
  • order repeat prescriptions
  • check your symptoms
  • view your medical record
  • book appointments (once the lockdown is lifted)
  • register your organ donation decision
  • find out more about how the NHS uses your data


For more information click here.

Introducing eConsult

Introducing eConsult* - the new online alternative to telephoning reception, for pretty much anything!

Simply submit your request online and await a response from reception.

No login details required!

eConsult replaces the WebGP service some patients would have been familiar with.

Click here to access eConsult.

*Not to be confused with SystmOnline

New Recall System

We are using a new recall system this year so you may notice that your Annual Reviews are earlier/later than usual. With this new system, we will try to ensure that all reviews are done within one visit to the practice.

Front Door Locked

We have now locked the front door due to the increased measures against the Covid-19 outbreak.

Appointments will be be telephone where possible. Patients with existing appointments will be notified in due course.

Patients will need to telephone first if they feel they need to be seen, and GPs will triage and invite patients they decide need a face-to-face appointment.

You can order your prescriptions online using SystmOnline, or by posting a note through the door. Prescriptions will be sent to a pharmacy of your choosing - please nominate a pharmacy whichever method you request by. Existing printed tokens will need to be sent to a pharmacy, so please nominate which pharmacy they should be sent to.

Practice Statement on Changes to Appointment System

Click here to read our practice statement on the changes to the appointment system in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

Online Booking Disabled

As part of their coronavirus preparation guidance, Public Health England have recommended that all practices temporarily disable online booking of appointments so they can be triaged. We apologise for any inconvenience.

Coronavirus Guidance

Please refer to our coronavirus guidance page for regular updates from Public Health England.

Three Working Days for Prescriptions

As of 1st March we are now allowing three working days from request for prescriptions to be ready.

For example, if you put in a request on a Monday, you should not expect it any sooner than 17:00 on the Thursday.

Electronic Prescription Service News

We are upgrading to the next phase of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) which will mean that almost all our prescriptions will be processed electronically from 20th January.

Electronic prescriptions help save the NHS money.

You will receive your prescriptions in the same way as you do now.

Read more about EPS on the NHS website.

Flu Jabs

All eligible patients will be contacted by either SMS message or letter within the next 2 weeks. We are currently awaiting delivery of our vaccines. 

Cancelling Appointments by Text

If you want to cancel an appointment by text, simply reply to your text reminder with 'cancel', and the system will automatically cancel it.

Please note: if you reply with anything other than 'cancel' the system will not recognise it and it won't work.

Time to Learn

Every first Tuesday of the month* all practices in the area close at 13:00 for staff training.

Please see the Time to Learn page for the dates for this year.

**NEW** GP Extended Access HUB now open.

Please see our opening times page for more information.


New General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

Please see privacy notice

Ear Irrigation No Longer Available

Please be advised that ear irrigation is not a service provided by the NHS, and it is unfortunately no longer feasible to offer it at this practice.

Should you require this service, you would need to arrange it privately.

10 Insider Tips

We bet you didn't know these facts about your GP! 10 insider tips

Missed Appointments

140 MISSED APPOINTMENTS PER MONTH!

Appointment waiting times are currently 20 working days to see a doctor for routine appointments (that’s 4 weeks!), possibly longer so see the GP of your choice. Many patients complain about having to wait this long to see a doctor, and justifiably so, but these delays can be dramatically reduced if patients just cancel any appointments they later find they do not need so they can be freed up for other patients.

On average there are 140 missed opportunities a month for other patients to see a doctor! That’s around 32 per week, and 4 per day! If we don’t address this, it will be 2,160 missed appointments a year - every year!

You can now cancel your appointment by replying CANCEL to your text message reminder - not a full sentence please, as the system will not recognise it. To sign up for SMS reminders please speak to a member of our reception team. Alternatively, you can still call to cancel your appointment please call 01277 218393 and choose option 6.

 

Minor Injuries Unit

The Minor Injuries Unit at Orsett Hospital is open Monday - Sunday from 10:00 – 20:00.

Patients are encouraged to use this service instead of A&E for minor injuries.

Click here to read more about this service.


Bank Holiday Closures

We will be closed on the following Bank Holidays:

Friday 10th April 2020 OPEN

Monday 13th April 2020 OPEN

Friday 8th May 2020

Monday 25th May 2020

Monday 31st August 2020

Friday 25th December 2020

Saturday 26th December 2020

Monday 28th December 2020

Friday 1st January 2021

Normal opening hours will resume at 8.00 am on the following working day after bank holiday closure.


Time to Learn Training afternoons

The surgery will be closed from 13:00 on the following Tuesday afternoons for practice training:

Tuesday 4th February 2020

Tuesday 3rd March 2020

Tuesday 7th April 2020

Tuesday 5th May 2020

Tuesday 2nd June 2020

Tuesday 7th July 2020

[AUGUST - NO TIME TO LEARN CLOSURE]

Tuesday 1st September 2020

Tuesday 6th October 2020

Tuesday 3rd November 2020

Tuesday 1st December 2020

Normal opening hours will resume at 08:00 the following day.

 

When We Are Closed

If you need urgent medical advice when the surgery is closed please contact the South Essex NHS 111 service directly by dialling 111. The call is free of charge.

Alternatively you may still contact the surgeries (New Surgery on 01277 218393. Brambles Surgery on 01277 215738) and your call will be automatically re-routed to the NHS 111 service directly, however the call will be charged.

The South Essex NHS 111 service provides urgent medical care when the practice is closed between 18:30 and 08:00 weekdays as well as weekends. Please note that although the surgery is open on Saturday mornings, this is via an extended hours enhanced service contract with the National Commissioning Board and the practice is contracted to provide pre-bookable appointments only. All requests for urgent medical attention that cannot wait for the surgery to open must be directed to the NHS 111 service as stated above, or accessed by calling the practice on 01277 218393.

Out-of-hours services are generally busy so please think carefully before asking to see a doctor and only do so if you genuinely cannot wait until the surgery re-opens.

In a genuine emergency you should call 999. Chest pains and / or shortness of breath constitute an emergency.  

Health News from the BBC and the NHS

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